Staff Sgt. Miguel Cortez (center) shares his experience in making the movies Restrepo and Korengal with fellow recruiters.

Recruiter Featured in DocumentariesStory by D. Charone Monday, USAREC, Columbus BattalionPhoto by Robert Jones, USAREC, Columbus BattalionAugust 11, 2014It’s not every day you can meet a movie star at a recruiting office, that is unless you visit the Hamilton Center of the Cincinnati Company. It’s there you’ll find Staff Sgt. Miguel Cortez, who’s appeared in not one, but two films.

Cortez, who served in Afghanistan before becoming a recruiter, was featured in the documentary, Restrepo, which was nominated for an Oscar in 2010. And though he never wanted to be in the film, he now finds himself in the sequel Korengal.

Though Restrepo was originally intended to be a full-length film, the producers said they instead decided to make it a documentary to show people what war was really like. The sequel reveals the emotional toll that war can take and delves into the difficulties Soldiers face after deployment.

After Cortez became a recruiter, his center commander had him put a Restrepo poster on the wall next to his desk.

“When people see the poster and say that they’ve seen the movie, I come out with the fact that I’m in it,” Cortez said. “We talk about it for a few minutes and it’s kind of an ice breaker. It leads on to what recruiters do and that we get them guaranteed jobs.”

Having been in the movie also helps with parents, Cortez said.

“I’ll tell parents, I was in the documentary and I’ll tell them the good and the bad. I’ve been in combat, but I chose to be in combat," he said. “When I first talked to a recruiter I was going to be an engineer, at the last minute I changed it, but I made that choice to change it myself. In the Army you get to choose your job so if you don’t want to be in combat, you’re not.”Cortez is due to leave recruiting soon, and though he’s looking forward to getting back to the line with his brothers, he said he’s enjoyed being a recruiter and believes the job has made him more outgoing and honed his leadership skills.